Chicago Actor, Improviser & Voiceover-er

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Losing my mind in Noises Off

In my triumphant return to the Metropolis Performing Arts Centre, I get the joy of yelling at my fellow actors as their temperamental, libidinous, and sarcastic director in Noises Off, the funniest farce ever written!

This legendary play-within-a-play follows a traveling troupe’s production of the British comedy Nothing On, from a tense dress rehearsal to backstage during a calamitous performance. The actors’ clashing egos and reckless dalliances take the endeavor to the edge of complete disaster and pandemonium ensues with flubbed lines, missed entrances, technical difficulties, and flaring tempers. The show must go on, no matter how bad it gets.

“Acerbic theater critic Frank Rich (aka ‘the Butcher of Broadway’) called Noises Off ‘the funniest play ever written in my lifetime.’ And under the direction of Joe Lehman, the Metropolis’ production lives up to that statement with relentless, unstoppable laughter.” – Northwest Herald

Moving on up for ComEd

You’ve heard of ComEd. They give you the electricity! And I’m part of a campaign about giving it to you cheaper! Because I’m pretty sure we all need to lower our operating costs, am I right?

Making big plans with North Shore Bank

I got big plans in this new spot for North Shore Bank, a community-minded bank that empowers you to confidently manage your money so you can achieve the life you want! And look at my face! I’m going to achieve it ALL, baby! WHOOO!!

Having twins for DuPage Medical Group

What do you do when you fall off your roof? You go to DuPage Medical Group, one of the largest and most successful independent multi-specialty physician groups in Illinois! Plus, if you impregnate your wife, they will tell you how many tiny people are gestating within her!

Hand modeling for La Quinta

Booze-ing my own adventure at LOL Chicago

I’m performing on an LOL stage once again! My KEG Comedy friends asked me to be a part of Booze Your Own Adventure, a new show in which an audience member’s life is recreated onstage but then various drinking games affect the direction of the story and the fate of our hero.

It’s gloriously stupid fun and it’s a trip improvising at the awesome new LOL Chicago space.

Directing improv’s Queen Bs

I’m one lucky son of a gun because since 2014 I’ve had the joy of directing the Queen Bs ensemble, comprised of Molly Baerson, Ann Field, Alexa Hansen, Robin Jurkowski, and Jane Kasper! These 5 talented ladies met in improv classes at Laugh Out Loud Theater (a couple of them taught by me), formed their new group, hired me as director, and the rest is history. You can spot the Bs performing on stages around Northwest Chicagoland, as well as teaching workshops or entertaining for private events. Read all about ’em in Country Magazine, and check their website for upcoming shows!

Portraying illnesses as a standardized patient

In 2015, I began a new gig as a standardized patient, and I’ve been regularly poked and prodded by med students ever since. A Standardized Patient (SP) is a person carefully recruited and trained to take on the characteristics of a real patient, thereby affording med students an opportunity to learn and to be evaluated on learned skills in a simulated clinical environment. Basically an SP is all about helping future doctors be better at their jobs, so you’re welcome! Currently, I’m changing lives at Northwestern University’s Feinberg School of Medicine and Rush University.

Past Projects

Solving mysteries in A Murder Most Novel

I’ve wanted to do a radio play with live foley work my whole damn life, and now my friends at Death & Pretzels have given me that chance!

In the ludicrous comedy A Murder Most Novel, I play brilliant and handsome detective Max Forthright!

This legendary gumshoe and his tenacious partner in crime-stopping, Bernadette Hargreaves, will encounter their most dangerous case yet: hosting a dinner party! But this party meant to celebrate the publishing of Max Forthright’s memoirs turns deadly when his guests begin turning up dead! How will the master detective uncover the murderer when he was the one who invited all the suspects?

Danger! Intrigue! Garden pest removal tips!

Gather around your radio set and stoke your fireplace for yet another thrilling adventure tale of Max Forthright and Bernadette Hargreaves!

Better yet, join us at “KCDP studio” circa 1944 to see seasoned radio performers in action along with live foley and original music!

Making Jackalope debut in Life On Paper

I’m so thrilled to be working with this excellent company on this world premiere of Kenneth Lin’s hilarious and heartfelt play about the value of life and the infinity of the soul.

After his proof for the Riemann Hypothesis (one of the world’s last great math puzzles) disastrously flames out, Mitch Bloom, a brilliant mathematician finds himself working as a consultant using complex algorithms to set the value of human lives in wrongful death cases. His knack for de-valuing lives has made him the darling of the insurance companies, but what will he do when the wrongful death of a billionaire philanthropist crosses his desk, and the future of a small town hangs in the balance?

I play Mitch’s cousin and new associate, trying his hand at a macabre occupation, while wrestling with demons of his own.

3.5 stars. “A really lovely little play… with a lot to say about how we value one life over another.” – Chicago Tribune

Recommended. “A great play that a lot of people should see. Guy Wicke is terrific…” – Newcity

Recommended. “Another reminder that you don’t see better acting on any Chicago stage than Jackalope’s.” – Chicago Reader

Being attacked by bees for Verve

Of the many options, I’m glad they went with my “attacked by bees” take.

Though I’m sad they didn’t use me yelling “Anaphylaxis!”

Returning to the arciTEXT short play fest

My, how the time goes by. This will be my 5th consecutive appearance in The Arc Theatre‘s annual 10-minute play festival, arciTEXT. 15 plays, 3 nights, 1 theme. And for 2019, that theme is “Forbidden Fruit.” Oh dear.

You can catch me in Unplugged by Shadana Patterson and directed by Dakota Pariset. A tale of a husband and wife battling over their respective digital guilty pleasures.

Voiceover-ing for George Webb

Fun to voice a character who is a sentient pair of letters, which happen to be my own initials too. If you’re not familiar with George Webb restaurants, they’re huge in Wisconsin, just like me!

Creeping around in The Mousetrap

That’s right, the masterpiece of one of the best-selling mystery writers of all time, Agatha Christie! The play that opened in London’s West End in 1952 and has been running continuously ever since! The play so good that I let myself be lured back to the suburbs to do it!

A terrible snowstorm traps a group of strangers in a quaint boarding house. They quickly discover that a murderer is hiding among them, and after a policeman arrives to investigate, a trap is set to catch the wily fiend. This spellbinding murder mystery will keep you guessing right up until its famous twist ending. Then you will be sworn to secrecy with an arcane ceremony!

And who do I play, you ask? None other than enigmatic foreigner Mr. Paravicini. He’s just a nice man who wouldn’t hurt a fly. Nothing to see here.

In Tres Bandidos, three men get lost on the way to a planned bank robbery and hole up in a dingy Texas motel. As a storm roars outside, past demons and a ticking clock put the heist in jeopardy and push the outlaws toward the breaking point. Written with rapid-fire, cutting dialogue, this contemporary western places cowboy mentality in the crosshairs.

Being very manly in The Explorers Club

God, I love to play a blustering scoundrel. And I get to do it again as bold explorer Harry Percy in this 19th century British farce by Nell Benjamin (Legally Blonde The Musical), in which she skewers sexism, colonialism, and those filthy swine, the Irish.

Being kidnapped in The Basement Company

A trio of actors wake to find themselves chained up in the basement of a psychopathic playwright. Under threat of violence and death, they are forced to perform their kidnapper’s magnum opus, a five-hour-long film noir play.

All the action happens at Deerfield’s Patty Turner Center. Get your tickets at TheatreD.com.

Performing at the Illinois Holocaust Museum

I’m deeply honored to play the lead in this tale of how a “good” man gets caught up in the nightmare of the Third Reich.

Good has been described as the definitive piece written about the Holocaust in the English-speaking theatre. It is a vivid and complex examination of Brecht’s dictum that for evil to prosper, good men must do nothing.

Playing Hemingway in Beneath the Boar’s Head

When a struggling writer hits a creative wall, he looks up to the framed photo of his literary hero above his desk and pleads for help.

So, naturally, an apparition of Hemingway appears before him, played by yours truly!

I proceed to drink heavily, throw insults, drop wisdom, and slam his head into his desk repeatedly until the writers block is defeated!

Working on this short film was tremendous fun and I look forward to its release!

Playing Scott Baio in arciTEXT 2017

Look at the tension in this picture. The electricity. The passion. These two are living in a powder keg and they are giving off sparks.

In the absurd, wonderful short play Liberal Wet Dream, part of the Arc Theatre’s arciTEXT short play festival, we discovered the truth behind Trump’s presidency, and explored the intense “special relationship” between these two men. Graphically.

It was disgusting.

Defending in Arbuckle’s Rape

In this staged reading, I played not one but two different defense attorneys. Clearly, I am being typecast. Also, I clearly should have pursued law.

Roscoe “Fatty” Arbuckle was one of the most popular silent stars of the 1910s, and soon became one of the highest paid actors in Hollywood. Then, at his peak, Arbuckle was accused of the rape and subsequent death of actress Virginia Rappe. This enormous scandal and Arbuckle’s three widely publicized trials are explored in Arbuckle’s Rape.

Defending in The Trial of Herschel Green

Inspired by true events–events that changed the course of history. On November 7, 1938, Herschel Green, a German Jewish emigre, shot a Nazi official at the German Embassy in Paris to avenge the treatment of his family and other Jews in Germany. A day later, the official mysteriously died. On November 9 and 10 in Germany and Austria, the Nazis executed the revenge known as “The Night Of Broken Glass”—destroying thousands of Jewish-owned businesses and hundreds of synagogues, and sending 30,000 Jews to concentration camps. Herschel Green was brought to trial. The Trial Of Herschel Green is a courtroom battle of conspiracy theories played out between the Nazi prosecutor and French defense attorney. The question is: Who really killed Von Hinter, and why?

Working construction and starting petitions

I got to be all over the TV in Chicago for once after I booked a commercial for Fix Illinois which advocated term limits to help fix our political gridlock. Then the night before we shot the thing, I was surprised to learn that Governor Rauner was behind Fix Illinois and would be in the commercial. This business sure is full of surprises.

Being Cookie Monster… for kids!

Boy did I scoff at the idea of this gig at first. But the sheer joy I get to spread when I’m goofing around in this suit is absolutely amazing. It’s an honor to be the guy the Sesame Street company calls when they need the beloved blue dude in Chicagoland.

Judging for Improv Gladiators

I recently dropped by to be a judge for The Original Improv Gladiators, an improv competition featuring teams from all over Chicago duking it out against each other for the coveted prize of a four-week run at the Cornservatory. It was a thoroughly enjoyable evening of chaos and comedy, and I took great pleasure in lambasting the teams and throwing chairs about.

Telling a story at That’s All She Wrote

That’s All She Wrote is a non-competitive live lit venue for storytellers of all stripes, co-produced by Angela Benander and J.H. Palmer, who share the mic each month with a new lineup of readers. I had the great honor of sharing a tale from my life in their post-election show, and I can’t wait to do it again.

Appearing in Orientation Day for PARAGON

PARAGON is the world’s largest sci-fi and fantasy play festival, founded by Otherworld Theatre Company and dedicated to furthering their mission of growing the genre of Science Fiction and Fantasy Theatre through the discovery and promotion of new artists and works. PARAGON tackles 40 Plays in 2 Days and I’m pleased to be appearing in Orientation Day by Chris Shaw Swanson and directed by Chris Thoren. It’s a bit of fun set in the near future when parents can program their children’s personalities, and I play a dad who wants his son to love sports like he does! ACT-TING!

Being Albert Einstein in Einstein’s Gift

Through the recollections of Albert Einstein, the play focuses on the life and career of German chemist Dr. Fritz Haber, who helped improve living conditions with his work on nitrogen fixation. His work was later used by the German army to produce chlorine gas used in Second Battle of Ypres in the First World War. As Dr. Haber becomes increasingly involved with the German army, the play depicts how his actions and newly forged military connections affect his relationship with his first wife, Clara, his second wife, Charlotta, and his assistant, Otto. As his passion in science intertwines with nationalistic pride, Haber manifested himself a scientist devoted to a country that never accepted his Jewish origin.

“That most satisfying kind of play… rich with historical detail and scandal and ripe with questions for post-theater conversations.”

Learning from Packers Head Coach Mike McCarthy

I’m on TV (and radio!) in Wisconsin some more! This time alongside my new buddy Mike in a new spot for Cellcom! Filmed around the football theme “Challenge” (That’s when an NFL head coach throws a red flag on the field and questions a referee’s call. Who knew?!), these Cellcom commercials each have Coach Mike questioning a misconception about Cellcom’s customer service. In my case, the expectation to speak with someone overseas (Bombay, even). My thanks to Lori Lins Ltd for getting me in there to book this fun gig!

Grocery shopping at Sendik’s

Thanks to my great talent agency Lori Lins Ltd, I’m on TV in Wisconsin some more, this time for Sendik’s Food Markets! I had a blast shooting this tale of two super cool couples having a fun dinner party. Not bad for a Tuesday night!

Hitting the jackpot with Menominee Casino

I had a blast shooting this spot for Menominee Casino Resort! Sadly, all my awesome dance moves didn’t make the final edit, so I’m just sitting motionless on a couch for a few seconds. Oh well, that’s showbiz. (I can’t believe I just wrote that! Sorry!) The spot turned out damn well though, so I’m just happy to have been a part of it! My thanks to my great representation at Lori Lins Ltd for getting me all over TV in northeast Wisconsin!

Directing The Restricted Section

I was damn flattered to be asked by a group of my former students to direct them as a brand-new improv ensemble, who originally took the name Crunch Crunch Boom! Now after some roster changes (damn pregnancies!), CCB is reborn as the Restricted Section! You can catch these funny goons popping up in performances at Laugh Out Loud Theater and the WIP Theater!

Being a family man in The Big Deal

Here’s a fun little short in which I play a husband and father who’s pestering his wife about having another kid. (ACT-TING!) It’s cute. Watch it.

Fighting a luchadore in Águila Del Sol

In Mondo Machine‘s short film Águila Del Sol‬, I play a demonic criminal mastermind who incurs the wrath of the titular Mexican wrestler when my supernatural friends and I commit a harmless kidnapping. Then it is a fight to the death between a demon, a werewolf, a vampire, and a luchadore!

You know, that old chestnut.

Returning to arciTEXT in The Venutian

This year I’ll be returning to the short works festival of the Arc Theatre, arciTEXT! This year, arciTEXT explores the theme of “The Prodigal Daughter,” and expands to three nights and 15 shows, with a selection of 10 pieces presented each night.

I’ll be playing “Dad” in The Venutian by Sarah Hecht & Diego Bàez and directed by Chris Thoren. Set in a dystopian future where the earth is a ravaged husk covered in nightmare weather and humanity has colonized the other planets of the solar system, a mother and a daughter clash over their life choices while Dad tries to start the grill. Emily Green plays my wife, and, hilariously, Caitlin Cavannaugh plays my daughter in an arciTEXT play for the 2nd year in a row!

The Venutian will play on Monday, April 11th and Tuesday, April 12th – doors open at 6:30pm, show at 7:30pm – at the Frontier at 1106 Thorndale (right off the Thorndale Red Line stop). Admission is $15 (CASH ONLY) and includes a complimentary beverage!

Reading Rochaleh’s Wedding for Continuum

I play the incredibly handsome and intelligent prospective groom to whom the beautiful Rochaleh is finally getting married! Her father, a widowed Holocaust survivor, is relieved and pleased…until he meets me! Suddenly, revelations threaten the family and Rochaleh’s future happiness. Story of my life.

Starring in “Holocaust comedy” Muse of Fire

(Recommended, 3 Stars)It’s Auschwitz, 1942. I play an actor who has coped with the horrors of the camp by writing a hilarious play in his head, and now he’s wrangling his fellow prisoners to act out his farce, which satirizes the anti-Semitic nonsense of the Dreyfus Affair.

But as the play goes on, dark secrets emerge. The prisoners must ask themselves if comedy can truly have meaning in the face of horror.

Being villainous in Die Hard: A Drinking Game

My friends at Commedia Beauregard are doing a Fundraiser/Gala/Reading of Die Hard, the 1988 classic holiday action film, and I get to play big bad guy Hans Gruber!

They’ve gotten a great group of actors together to read the screenplay, and there’s beer involved. Also, there’s a raffle! Great prizes from theatre tickets, to Blu-Rays, to Books, to a very special Cubs Baseball package! A number of things that might be great for Christmas gifts.

They’re asking for a $10 Recommended Donation to attend. If you register/donate in advance, you are entered automatically into each of the raffles (1 entry each), and also into the special pre-order-only drawing for one of the four minor parts in the reading! Who wouldn’t want to be randomly selected to be John McClane’s daughter, right?!

Starring in Breaking the Shakespeare Code

I’m thrilled to be staring in Clockwise Theatre‘s upcoming production of Breaking the Shakespeare Code, which is another 2-person show that I’m damn excited about. I’ll be playing Curt, a well-regarded acting instructor at a women’s college in Massachusetts that develops a fiery, compelling mentor-mentee relationship with an ambitious student seeking further Shakespearean training. Then things get complicated.

Starring in Zelda at the Oasis for Genesis

I’m thrilled to be co-starring alongside Amy Gray in Genesis Theatrical Productions‘ premiere of Zelda at the Oasis by P.H. Lin, a 2-person show about Zelda Sayre Fitzgerald, wife of legendary American novelist F. Scott Fitzgerald. Amy will play Zelda and I’ll play all the other characters in her life, such as F. Scott Fitzgerald, Ernest Hemingway, and more!

It all happens on a magical night in the 1930s, when Zelda discovers The Club Oasis, a New York City bar where she has escaped to drink alone…until a unique and unexpected friendship is forged with an aspiring musician who plays piano and tends bar at The Oasis. Vivid and haunting memories are triggered as Zelda transforms the Bar Man into those from her past who have shaped her own self-image. Through this after-hours encounter, they share their dreams, missteps, and insights with one another, hoping to unlock the courage to move forward with their lives.

Zelda at the Oasis will run at the Raven Theatre throughout August of 2015!

Appearing in TRANSition Day in Queer Bits Film Fest

TRANSition Day examines a pivotal moment in the life of a smart, successful business owner whose gender affirmation collides with an important board meeting.

The screening commences at 7:30PM and will be followed by a brief talk-back with some of the filmmakers. Tickets are $10, and the Public House Theater bar will be open beginning at 6:30PM, so come early and have a drink with me!

Be warned though! I play a terrible, terrible person in the film, so I might be getting a lot of dirty looks from people!

Starring in Don’t Dress For Dinner at Citadel

I’m thrilled to be starring in Citadel Theatre‘s production of Don’t Dress for Dinner by Marc Camoletti (who also authored Boeing-Boeing). In this ridiculous snappy farce, I’m Robert, the best friend of hapless Bernard who is attempting a romantic rendezvous with his mistress. I’m called upon to aid him in a maddening crescendo of assumed identities and outrageous infidelities (such as the fact that I’m also sleeping with his wife). Don’t Dress for Dinner has since been produced all over the world with successful runs in London, Paris, New York and Chicago… and now Lake Forest, the Paris of the North Shore!

UPDATE: We had wonderful houses and we got great reviews, including this snippet:

“Guy Wicke is superb… skillfully walks that fine line between the preposterous and farcical… mastering Camoletti’s labyrinthine dialogue, but [he] also mines so much additional humor from his subtle looks and gestures” – Chicago Theatre Review

Appearing in Garçon for arciTEXT 2015

In April, I’ll be in Garçon as part of The Arc Theatre’s 3rd annual short works festival, arciTEXT. Each year, The Arc challenges the Chicago Artist Community to come up with original new works inspired by a literary theme taking any and all liberties. The Arc curates a symposium of some of the most provocative artists in Chicago to facilitate an intriguing discussion of that theme, which this year is “Mortal Sin.” It’s a fun, casual evening of cocktails and commiseration and all are invited to the conversation. arciTEXT will take place at “The Frontier” off the Thorndale Red Line stop on both April 11th and 12th at 7:30pm.

Appearing in Sand Castles at Rhinofest

I’m thrilled to once again be working with the awesome duo of playwright John Green and director Emmi Hilger; this time for a performance at the 26th Annual Rhinoceros Theater Festival! In John Green’s Sand Castles, comic characters try desperately to make sense of their fleeting lives. The set of three short plays makes up a tender tale about letting go, telling the truth, and believing in tomorrow. The Reunion features middle-aged fraternity brothers in a battle to convince each other their lives are a success. In The Heart-Mind Dialogues, Mind does its best to calm Heart in the face of impermanence. In The Girl with the Red Umbrella, two men, caught in the rain, do their best to assure a young newlywed that her troubled marriage can work.

Teaching Advanced Improv at LOL Theater

Professor Wicke is at it again, teaching Advanced Improv at Laugh Out Loud Theater! This session my class will focus on making bold, strong choices and we’ll tighten up a bunch of short-form games in the process. It all culminates in a performance in an awesome class performance, and I’ll probably get all teary!

Performing Final Improv Shows at LOL Theater

After 7 years as a proud ensemble member at Schaumburg’s Laugh Out Loud Theater (the funniest place in a suburban outdoor mall in the world), I am turning the page. Yup, it’s time for me to move on and find new comedy adventures elsewhere. It’s sad to leave the cast, but I’m excited for what the future holds, and I’ll still be around the theater now and then to coach and teach. And heckle. Mostly the heckling.

If you haven’t caught me doing short-form improv at LOL, or if you’d just like to help me go out with a bang on Jan 17, get your butt to the Streets of Woodfield already!

Spokespuppeteering for Westbury Bank

I’m currently on TV all over the Milwaukee area! Well, not me exactly. My hand and my voice. You see, I’m the spokespuppet for Westbury Bank! Thanks to my wonderful representation at Lori Lins Ltd, I got to film a bunch of spots for this spunky bank that’s doing things differently. Check ’em out!

Appearing in Tony Kushner’s A Bright Room…

I’m thrilled to once again be working with Spartan Theatre Company, this time in their production of A Bright Room Called Day by Tony Kushner, which will be running this November at CIC Theater! The play follows the lives of a group of friends in 1930s Germany as they are caught up in the rise of the Nazi party and Adolf Hitler’s ascent to power. Meanwhile, an American woman in the 1980s shares a similar set of concerns during the Reagan administration. Directed by Laura Elleseg, this production looks at how history changes—and how it stays the same. I get to play a one-eyed, Jewish, Hungarian cinematographer who can summon the devil. Yeah. It’s a trip. Come see it!

Storytelling at Truth or Lie

I’m participating in my first “live lit” happening at the Truth or Lie Reading Series, a monthly event which runs the first Sunday of the month at Bucktown art gallery Firecat Projects. Truth or Lie is hosted by my friend Sarah Terez Rosenblum and features five to six story tellers spinning true or fictive tales and leaving the audience to wonder, truth or lie? Come see me share a tale from my life, which I may have made up! The night I’ll be reading happens November 2nd at 7:30pm!

Appearing in My First Commercials

Thanks to my wonderful representation at Lori Lins Ltd, I’ve been fortunate enough to act in my very first commercials, one of which I can now share with you! I had a wonderful time shooting this spot for Berkshire Hathaway Travel Protection (Berkshire Hathaway is apparently just a small mom-and-pop company no one’s ever heard of), and though I only appear in the first 30 seconds, I hope I did justice to the despair so often felt by uninsured travelers everywhere. (I pop up again at the 40 second mark. See if you can spot me!)

Starring in 10 & 2 at the Chicago Fringe Festival

I’m honored to be in Spartan Theatre Company‘s production of 10＆2 by Joe Wescott, which will featured in this year’s Chicago Fringe Festival! 10 & 2 is a cutting edge contemporary drama set in the high speed world of the Department of Motor Vehicles and I’ll be playing Patton Glicksman, a man with a terrible story to tell. With echoes of Beckett, Sartre, and Pinter, this existential romp looks not only at the effects of the human condition on the individual, but how those effects influence the way we treat and misuse each other. This play is from the same team behind last yearʼs Fringe Fest smash hit Heart In A Cage and there are only three chances to catch it! Saturday, August 30 @ 8:30pmSunday, August 31 @ 5:30pmSunday, September 7 @ 7:00pm

Being Interviewed by the Chicago Sun-Times

It was my great pleasure to be named Crush of the Month by Chicago Sun-Times blogger (and my foxy new stalker) Sarah Terez Rosenblum! She interviews me about how I got into acting, how I got into PR, and how to get into my apartment. Check it out on her Sun-Times blog, Our Town!

Appearing in The Castle and The Sparrow

I’m excited to be a part of this season of the International Voices Project, and this Monday 4/28 I’ll be appearing as The King in The Castle and The Sparrow, written by Egypt’s Ahmed Serag, translated by Fouad Teymour, and directed by Jimmy McDermott. It’s produced in collaboration with the Egyptian Consulate of Chicago, the Egyptian American Society, and Egyptians Abroad for Development, so yeah, it’s kind of a big deal. The Castle and The Sparrow is a tale of dreams and deceptions on the eve of a battle. An inept king (me!) dreams of the glory that history will bestow upon him when he becomes the first in a long line of kings to successfully conquer a fabled castle. Meanwhile the men of the King’s Royal Council scheme to keep him deceived while expanding their own power. In the midst of all this, a mysterious man appears to uncover this intricate web of deception, malice and lies. It’s really a great project about power, corruption, and the people having a voice in their government. Amazingly, this prescient play was written a year before the people took to Tahrir Square and overthrew that corrupt Egyptian government! Come check out The Castle and The Sparrow in the International Voices Project one night only on Monday 4/28 at 7pm at Victory Gardens Biograph Theater! Tickets are FREE and can be reserved at IVPChicago.org!

Starring in Indie Short Film STRAIGHT

I recently had the opportunity to play the lead in STRAIGHT by Eleventh Hour Films. In this America, homosexuality is the norm and heterosexuals are the shamed minority. I play the prosecutor seeking justice when a college student commits suicide after a video of him having heterosexual sex is aired on YouTube, outing him as a straight. The case ultimately leads my character to come out of the closet as straight himself, which proves to be a dangerous revelation.

Training at Black Box Acting

I’m newly enrolled in the Black Box Acting Studio and am taking Human Behavior, a class in which I’ll be “using the Meisner Technique to become hyper-responsive to human behavior” and “opening the door to emotional freedom and availability.” Black Box Acting prides themselves on being the training ground for fearless acting and I know I’m going to be pushed and challenged like never before. Seriously, this class is going to kick my ass and I love it.

Appearing in a Short Play by John Green

This February, Piccolo Theatre will host its inaugural First Laugh festival of one-act plays, and I’m honored to be in the dark and awkward Ice Flow by John Green (author of The Liquid Moon) which will be featured on February 7th and 8th at 8:00pm! This fest premieres the original work of local and regional playwrights answering the question, “What was your first laugh?” Each weekend will showcase three new plays (for a total of six world premieres), and this juried festival will feature a prize awarded to the audience favorite. Grab your tickets and come on up to Evanston’s Piccolo Theatre to check it out!

Starring in the Short Film Ballot Box

Ballot Box is a political mockumentary in which I’ll be playing Sergei, a freshly naturalized American citizen who is running his first polling place and struggling to maintain his optimism (and patriotism) in the face of electoral disaster. This is a damn funny script and I can’t wait to start filming and bringing it to life!

Being Selected for the 35th Annual ITAs

Each year the Illinois Theater Association hosts its Statewide Professional Non-Equity Auditions, where some 300 auditionees are selected to audition in front a theater full of directors and casting representatives from throughout the state. Each actor has a total of 90 seconds to perform before a monitor cuts them off and a trap door opens underneath them. Plus the casting reps get a binder full of everyone’s headshots/resumes to keep on their coffee table. February 9 is the big day and I can’t wait!

Partying at the CAFM Holiday Hurrah

On December 16th, I’m damn excited to be attending the 5th Annual CAFM Holiday Hurrah at Hard Rock Hotel Chicago, a huge party/fundraiser/networking night for the Chicago Acting in Film Meetup! Each year, the film industry and its fans doll up and come support the working film actors of Chicago. There are going to be carnival games to play for PRIZES, such as the grand prize of a Winter Weekend Getaway with a two-night stay courtesy of Hard Rock Hotel Chicago, a gift certificate to the American Bistro Chuck’s Manufacturing, and two tickets to AMC Theaters! Not to mention all the other movie tickets, theater tickets and restaurant gift certificates up for grabs. And then there’s the Silent Auction for more incredible stuff, including CAFM’s “10 Minutes With” prize, where the winner gets 10 minutes of face-time with casting directors from O’Connor Casting, PR Casting, and Simon Casting! And then there’s the Premium Industry Raffle, featuring favorites like “10 Minutes With” leading Chicago talent agents, shoots with headshot photographers, time with acting coaches, and other career-building prizes! It’s nuts. Stop reading this and get your tickets now! Tickets a little steep for your working actor budget? CAFM certainly knows the financial ups and downs of this profession and is giving back by awarding tickets to 10 lucky actors! Enter to win a FREE ticket to CAFM’s Holiday Hurrah at ChicagoActinginFilm.org! Then check on CAFM’s Facebook page at 3pm on Thursday the 12th for the announcement of all ten winners!

Being Represented by a New Agent

I’m very pleased to now be represented by Lori Lins Ltd, one of the major talent agencies in the Midwest! After a great meeting with Lori herself, I signed at the dotted line, and then immediately got started auditioning! Already a powerhouse in Madison and Milwaukee, LLL opened their Chicago location about three years ago and I’m looking forward to booking lots of work with these great people. I think this is the beginning of a beautiful friendship.

Joining the Chicago Acting in Film Meetup

I was honored to be accepted as a member of CAFM, which is a “working actors only” group with pretty stringent standards. They meet monthly to share goals, dreams, leads, bad experiences, great coaches, amazing shoots, and keep a forward positive focus for their 150-some members. I’m absolutely honored to be counted among such a excellent mix of actors and I’m looking forward to all the mentoring, education and inspiration to come! Learn more about CAFM at ChicagoActinginFilm.org.

Wolfing Out in Three Short Films

I was fortunate enough to be cast in a few films that’ll be shooting in Oct-Nov, and in one of them I even appear briefly as a werewolf! (The makeup test was a hoot, let me tell you. I think I still have latex in my beard.) In the dark tale No One Knows I’m Gone, I play a gossipy teacher scandalized by a troubled student’s behavior; in the genre-jumping flick Late Fee, I am the bitter owner of a failing video rental store; and in the inventive Dreams of Life, I portray an executive dealing with his daughter’s leukemia who hires a younger man with a similarly afflicted loved one. Three great characters that I can’t wait to get into!

Advanced Acting Study with The Group

I’m proud to be a member of Act One Studios Director Steve Merle’s exclusive advanced acting class, The Group. Steve formed his Group to be a place for actors to come together to study and grow in a whole new way. It’s not the “8 weekly classes then a showcase” format. It’s ongoing with classes twice a week, which you can attend as much as you like – for free. In The Group, you only pay to work. Instead of paying $___ for Class A, in The Group you buy a punch card, but your card is only “punched” when you work a scene. You can pick your scene partner, you can pick your scene. Or you can have Steve pick them for you. Either way, he’s going to push you. And you’ll have all the time to work on the scene that it needs (unlike a traditional class). Then when it’s really ready, Steve and his crew will film it and then you can use it for your reel, website, etc. Plus we do monthly play readings and movie nights. In short, it’s a blast and I’m thrilled to be a part of it. Right now there’s about a dozen members and Steve is looking to cap it at 30, so if you’re an actor and you’re intrigued, you can still get in while the getting’s good. Check out ActOne.com for more info and to apply.

Starring in a Zombie Short Film

I’m thrilled to be playing the lead in Daisy, a short film about one man’s struggle to return to “normal” after a zombie apocalypse came and then was defeated. I play Todd, the reserved and socially awkward man who must help rebuild the family business in a newly forming society. I’m heartbroken over the loss of my wife and struggle to find a connection with other survivors while I live under a shadow of criticism and blame for my wife’s death. And this isn’t just another hack zombie flick, Daisy is about the complex emotional repercussions of dealing with loss and guilt (but there’s still plenty of gore and mayhem). Coming soon!

Playing the Nerd in The Nerd

I was thrilled to have been cast as the titular character in Black Fox Theatre’s production of The Nerd, which ran Thursdays through Sundays from Aug 9 – Sept 1 at the Athenaeum Theatre. Set in Indiana in the late 70s, I played the mysterious, nerdy Rick Steadman who shows up at the home of Willum, a man he’s never met but whose life he saved in Vietnam, and then hilarious and unexpected hijinks force Willum to discover how far he’ll go to fight for his own happiness. “Wicke’s wide-eyed, maddening naiveté is right on the money.” – Newcity “I commend Wicke for fully committing to the role of Rick Steadman: his Northerner accent may have been over-the-top, but he clearly relishes every idiotic decision and mannerism, and his enthusiasm’s contagious.” – Chicago Theatre Beat “Guy Wicke keeps the laughs coming as Rick.” – Centerstage Chicago “My favorite character was Rick even though he was sort of the bad guy… I started to be really irritated by him, but in an interesting way.” – Ada Grey Reviews for You (She’s nine years old.)

Making Theatrical Debut in Lipstick Goes On Last

Multiple Jeff Award-winner David Zak directed the world premiere of this play in which I co-starred with Richard Pryor Jr. (yes, the son of that Richard Pryor). Lipstick Goes On Last is a farce about 3 married couples dealing with dysfunction, alcoholism, infidelity, and raising children in the 1970’s. I played a philandering psychiatrist who struggles with his alcoholic wife and being a good father to his 13 year old daughter. I had a blast and learned so much during our run at The Den Theatre from May 25 – June 23, 2013. Learn more and follow the show at LipstickGoesOnLast.com.

Appearing in the Web Series Trapped

I’m enjoying popping up as CEO Randy Quaid in the new comedy web series Trapped by C and B Productions (who are actually a team of 12 Chicago film students). In episode 1, I put all my acting training to work by reacting to a penis tattooed with Ronald Reagan’s face. And if you think that’s funny, you’ll love Trapped!